Carolina Panthers
NFL |conference = NFC |division = NFC South |founded = 1995 |stadium = Bank of America Stadium |city = Charlotte, North Carolina |image_color_uniform = |image_white_uniform = |image_alt_uniform = |field = |championships = 0 |championships_years = None |super_bowls = 0 |super_bowls_years = None |conf_champs = 2 |conf_champs_years = 2003 • 2015 |div_champs = 6 |div_champs_years = 1996 • 2003 • 2008 2013 • 2014 • 2015 |typen = 2 |type1 = Panthers |type2 = Silver }} The Carolina Panthers are a professional football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, representing the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. They are members of the National Football League (NFL) as part of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the NFC South division. The Panthers play home games at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion teams in 1995. Current Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, Dom Capers, was the team's first head coach and engineered the Panthers to the NFC Championship game the following season, but fell to the Packers 30–13, who went on to win Super Bowl XXXI that season. Carolina has two NFC Conference Championships to their credit, earning a trip to Super Bowl XXXVIII during the 2003 season, losing to the New England Patriots, 32–29, after a last second field goal, and going 15-1 and winning a trip to Super Bowl 50 during the 2015 season, losing to the Denver Broncos, 24-10. Among head-to-head contests against Green Bay, the Packers hold the edge, 8-4 (with the 1996 NFC Championship game included). Team history 'Founding' In 1987, former Baltimore Colts player Jerry Richardson met with a group of potential backers to discuss the possibility of bringing an NFL expansion team to the Carolina region. In 1992, the NFL released the list of five areas open to a potential NFL team: Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis, Jacksonville, and the Carolinas, represented by Charlotte. On October 26, 1993, the league announced that the owners had unanimously voted for the Carolinas to receive the 29th franchise, the first new NFL team since 1976 (Jacksonville was named the 30th team a month later). Panthers team president Mark Richardson, the son of team owner Jerry, chose the Panthers nickname. As he stated: :"(Panthers is) a name our family thought signifies what we thought a team should be: powerful, sleek and strong." Richardson also chose the 1995 expansion team’s color scheme of black, blue, and silver. The Panthers logo consists of the head of a black snarling panther outlined in blue. It is shaped to resemble the combined borders of North and South Carolina. 'Membership' |} 'Achievements' |} Rivalry The first contest between Carolina and the Green Bay Packers was the 1996 NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field for the opportunity to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXXI. This marked the third and last time the Packers played an opposing team for the first time in the playoffs (first was the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I and then the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II). Behind the arm of quarterback Brett Favre, the Packers won the game 30-13 to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl II during the 1967 season. In head-to-head contests between Carolina and the Packers, the Packers hold the overall edge, 8-4. |- | align="center" | |} External links References * Pro Football Reference.com - Carolina Panthers franchise encyclopedia * Wikipedia - Carolina Panthers page * Chris Creamer's Sportslogos.net - Carolina Panthers logos *http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=main Category:National Football League teams Category:NFC West Division Teams Category:NFC South Division Teams Category:NFC West Category:NFC South